1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a carbonated beverage, and more specifically to a carbonated beverage containing a low-calorie sweetner which is low calorie, has a reduced tendency to cause dental caries, and possesses excellent palatability.
2. Discussion of the Background:
In recent years, drinks and health foods which are low in calorie and have a reduced tendency to cause caries have proliferated, and there has thus been a tendency to utilize low-calorie sweetners such as aspartame in carbonated beverages.
Carbonated beverages containing many low-calorie sweetening agents are frequently inferior in taste or flavor to those containing sugar. For example, carbonated beverages containing saccharin or a Stevia extract have considerably lower palatability than those which contain sugar because the former leaves a particularly bitter after-tase. In contrast to other low-calorie sweeteners, aspartame is sweet-tasting and possesses a flavor increasing effect. However, carbonated beverages which contain blends of saccharin or the Stevia extract with aspartame tend to be less organoleptically pleasing than those containing sugar.
In order to remedy these organoleptic characteristics, attempts have been made to improve the sweetness of the compounds, and many reports have been made on the improvement of sweeteners such as saccharin, the Stevia extract, Acesultame and aspartame.
In the course of studying the organoleptic characteristics of a carbonated beverage containing aspartame, the present inventors determined that improving sweetness alone does not remedy the difference of its organoleptic characteristics with that of a carbonated beverage containing sugar. Further investigations led to the discovery that in the carbonated beverage containing aspartame, carbon dioxide gas escapes more easily after bottle opening, than from the beverage containing sugar. Therefore, the refreshness which is ascribable to the dissolved carbon dioxide gas is more rapidly impaired and the palatability of the beverage is more rapidly reduced.